George Bain

Who was George Bain?

George Bain, born in Scrabster in the far north of Scotland, was an art teacher who almost single-handedly revived interest in Celtic and Insular art.

His book Celtic Art: The Methods of Construction was published in 1951. It had little impact at the time, but on its re-issue in 1971 it introduced a generation to Celtic knotwork, the Pictish stones, the Book of Kells and the Book of Durrow. As well as describing and illustrating over 200 historical examples, his book was notable for giving detailed instructions on creating similar interlace, spiral, and trumpet designs, and encouraging their use in craftwork.

Bain's monograph inspired the design for the cover of King Crimson's Discipline album; in later releases, it was replaced by a knotwork designed by Steve Ball, which has also been used the logo of Discipline Global Mobile and Guitar Craft, a music company and a musicians' association each founded by King Crimson's Robert Fripp. A Bain design was also used to illustrate a rug manufactured by Quayle and Tranter, a former manufacturer of carpets based in Kidderminster, England.

His son Iain, an engineer, later also wrote two books - "Celtic Knotwork" and "Celtic Key Patterns".